Free Stone Cold by David Baldacci

“Where was his body found?”
    “Sorry, can’t say. The
remains
of a body were found in the bedroom.”
    “Positive ID?”
    “Suffice it to say that we consider this a homicide investigation regarding the owner of the property.”
    “Did you find the driver to confirm Oliver’s story?”
    The agent shook his head. “The man’s gone missing. He was with the CIA. Not sure what the story was there. Of course, that means we just have your word for it that he drove you home,” he added, eyeballing Stone.
    “If I were going to blow up the man I wouldn’t have told anyone I was meeting with him, especially a United States Secret Service agent. And I certainly wouldn’t have done the deed on the very night I did meet with him.”
    “The fact that the house blew up right after he met with you
is
the reason you’re a suspect,” the agent countered.
    “And it’s also the reason I’m out here,” Stone said. “Because the faster you find the real killer, the sooner I’m off that list.”
    “Anyone else around?” Alex asked.
    The agent nodded, his gaze still on Stone. “A guard. He came out of the guesthouse over there and got hit by some debris and was actually on fire. He says he remembers somebody knocking him down and putting out the flames. He passed out and the next thing he remembers is being put in the back of an ambulance. He’s in the burn unit at a hospital in Annapolis. He’ll be okay.”
    Alex said, “So there
was
somebody else out here last night.”
    The agent was still staring at Stone, who raised his hands and said, “You can check me for burns, if you’d like.”
    “It wasn’t the other guy, the driver?” Alex said quickly while giving Stone a “knock it off” look.
    “The guard was in so much pain he could only see it was a guy,” the agent admitted. “But if it
was
the driver why should he have run off?”
    “He would if he had something to do with the explosion,” Stone noted. “And the fact that he’s gone missing now? Not to tell you how to run your investigation, but it is something to think about.”
    “We have thought about it,” the agent said gruffly.
    “Find anything useful in the house?” Stone asked.
    “If we did, you would not be on the list of people we would inform.”
    Stone smiled, turned away and saw it. He said slowly, “Well, since I’m not in the loop you won’t mind if I just take a walk along the cliffs. Be sure to keep me in your line of sight in case I make a run for it.”
    As he walked away the agent said to Alex, “Okay, fed to fed, who the hell is that guy?”
    “Someone I’d trust my life with. Someone I
have
trusted my life with.”
    “Care to share?”
    “No, it’s national security stuff and you’d never believe me anyway.”
    The agent stared at the rumpled Stone. “National security! The guy looks borderline homeless.”
    “Actually, he works in a cemetery,” Alex said helpfully.
    The agent just shook his head and then followed Stone, who was over near the cliffs.
    What had caught Stone’s eye was the gas regulator post. As he headed toward it the same agent called out, “We’ve checked that out already. Obvious point.”
    “And?”
    “And it was working fine and no forced entry.”
    “There wouldn’t be any sign of forced entry if the person knew what he was doing. But the gas pressure can be manipulated from here?”
    “Presumably. But we checked the box and the pressure hadn’t been changed.”
    Stone recalled the long window of Gray’s house looking out onto the cliffs. There was something gnawing at his memory. He turned back to the agent.
    “Well, if you can change the pressure, you can change it back.”
    “Okay, anything else strike you funny?” the man asked.
    “Let’s say you greatly increase the gas pressure going into the house, which blows out the safety overrides. In seconds the place is filled with gas.”
    “But you need something to ignite that gas.”
    “Turning on a light would create enough